Ariel was born in Utah to Ariel and Gladys Maughan. He played basketball at Utah State, and entered the U.S. Army in 1943. He re-enlisted in 1945, but was discharged in 1946 after the ending of armed conflict. Now living in North Carolina, he signed with the Detroit Falcons and later joined the Steamrollers before being traded to St Louis.

Ariel married Carole Nelson (1923-2011) in 1942, but they divorced in 1945. He remarried to Edna Whitley (1920-2008) in 1946, with this union ending in divorce in 1951. In 1966, he married 21-year old Georgia "Billie" Ward, and this marriage only last two years. He married a fourth time, to Betty Young. He had two sons and two daughters (I think).